“Normally, there’s no problem. After all, this is still a scenic area, and iron-eating beasts are all very gentle—especially since you have the telepathy talent.”

Good!

The answer made William Carter very excited. That settles it—why wait a week? He’d arrange for the iron-eating beast to harden today, so it could witness the power of its own beastmaster.

This was the first step in raising a child: make it admire you first. Once that’s done, it’ll be much easier to... educate it!

He just didn’t know if the adult iron-eating beasts here had mastered any rare skills beyond their racial abilities... Whatever, he’d copy the hardening skill first and worry about the rest later.

Chapter 9: First Battle

Two hours later.

William Carter walked out of the iron bamboo breeding base, completely satisfied.

Page six of the illustrated guide.

[Skill]: Hardening

[Skill Level]: Low-tier

[Description]: Metal-type skill. Can harden the body, acting like an invisible suit of armor, and can even evolve into offensive power.

[Status]: No teaching target at present

The process of William Carter copying the hardening skill was quite easy and smooth. He only did one simple thing: he fed a wild iron-eating beast.

Unlike the young iron-eating beasts who hadn’t awakened the hardening ability and gnawed on iron bamboo like bones, adult iron-eating beasts would first use the hardening skill to arm their teeth before eating.

Then they’d bite into the iron bamboo, hard as steel, making their eating efficiency soar—one bite per stalk, crisp and crunchy.

William Carter fed it a stalk of iron bamboo, gently patted it afterward, and got the skill.

“At least I won’t have to come back for a month.”

Having truly become a beastmaster, William Carter said this as he left the iron bamboo breeding base.

At this point, besides taking away the No. 11 iron-eating beast cub, he also carried a backpack full of premium bamboo shoots—tomorrow’s food for Henry.

Unlike Earth’s bamboo, the mutated plants here were highly nutritious, with a value comparable to some meats. Plus, the iron-eating beast’s digestive organs were completely different from those of ordinary giant pandas, so as long as the bamboo was high quality, the iron-eating beast didn’t need to gorge on dozens of pounds a day just to get a little nutrition.

Still, iron bamboo was just the most basic food for iron-eating beasts. There were definitely much more expensive upgrades out there, but William Carter probably couldn’t afford them for now.

Make money!

Now that he was a beastmaster, he had to figure out a way to earn money.

He himself could get by as long as he didn’t starve, but if the iron-eating beast wanted to grow strong quickly, skills alone weren’t enough—nutrition had to keep up too.

But before all that, he needed to hurry home and settle himself and Henry in.

Food, drink, and shelter—all important.

Before long, William Carter arrived home.

Pingcheng already had many high-rise buildings, but William Carter’s old home was a large courtyard house.

For William Carter, living in a courtyard was actually better than an apartment.

Now that he was a beastmaster, living in a high-rise was really inconvenient for training his pet beast.

He’d have to rent a venue every time, which was troublesome and a waste of money.

But this place, though a bit old, was spacious and made for a perfect training ground.

After getting home, he casually tossed down his luggage and noticed everything was covered in dust, so he decided to do a thorough cleaning.

But how could he do all the work alone...

Panda Henry, my partner!

My turn—summon!

A transparent, circular summoning array appeared in front of William Carter. With ripples like water, the iron-eating beast Henry crawled out.

Depending on the level of the beast space, the space barrier and the color of the summoning array would differ.

For a trainee beastmaster like William Carter, the space barrier and summoning array were transparent, almost colorless.

At this moment, Henry, summoned from the beast space, looked a bit dazed, as if it had just woken up.

It shook itself a few times, flinging its soft black-and-white fur. Feeling much lighter, it turned to look at William Carter, who had summoned it.

Henry gave its short tail a little wag. Now that it was William Carter’s pet beast, it was no longer shouting “Never a slave!” or “Fearless!” like before. There was now a natural sense of closeness between it and William Carter.

This mental connection was even more intimate than a blood bond.

Henry instinctively walked over to William Carter, rubbed against his leg, and melted William Carter’s heart.

It looked... much more obedient!

William Carter was gratified, showing a fatherly smile.

“Come, let me teach you the hardening ability!”

One person was enough for cleaning. Iron-eating beasts were so cute—how could he let it get tired? Training was exhausting enough!

Yes, first he’d establish his excellent image in the iron-eating beast’s heart.

“Aw?”

The iron-eating beast Henry stood up. Hardening?

Speaking of which...

It stretched out its fist, and in the next second, the black-furred paw instantly became even darker, harder, and took on a metallic sheen—this was the hardening ability.

After a nap in the beast space, Henry had finally awakened.

It was really comfortable in there. Henry felt it wasn’t hungry, slept better, its body was warm, and its mind was clearer.

The hardening it couldn’t awaken before—after one nap, it had mastered it.

William Carter: ???